Cinque Terre Cooking Lesson in La Spezia
La Spezia, Italy
Rating: 
Trip Type: Cooking Classes
Duration: 6 hours
Learn how to cook a 3-course Italian meal with Ligurian slow-food flair. With your expert cook guiding you from the start, visit a marketplace in the harbor town of La Spezia and pick out the freshest fish and vegetables — think mussels, sea bream, juicy tomatoes and bright green asparagus. Ingredients in hand, stroll through picturesque streets to a charming ‘osteria’ (small eatery) where, in a small group of no more than 10 people, you’ll receive highly personalized cooking instruction in the kitchen. Then, feast on the fruits of your labor.
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Learn how to cook a 3-course Italian meal with Ligurian slow-food flair. With your expert cook guiding you from the start, visit a marketplace in the harbor town of La Spezia and pick out the freshest fish and vegetables — think mussels, sea bream, juicy tomatoes and bright green asparagus. Ingredients in hand, stroll through picturesque streets to a charming ‘osteria’ (small eatery) where, in a small group of no more than 10 people, you’ll receive highly personalized cooking instruction in the kitchen. Then, feast on the fruits of your labor.
Meet your local guide, also an expert cook, at La Spezia Centrale railway station in the morning. La Spezia is located east of Cinque Terre, only a few minutes away by railroad.
Take a leisurely walk through the narrow winding streets and reach a large, bustling marketplace. Enjoy the almost overwhelming sight: rows of crates stacked on top of one another, laden with fish, colorful produce and cheese, and people standing before the dozens of stalls trying to make the freshest selections.
Join their ranks with your guide leading the way. Be introduced to the fish sellers and learn how to pick out the right mussels and the most recently caught fish. At the produce stands, find the regional vegetables and perhaps bite into a succulent tomato. Pick up the seasonal ingredients required for your cooking class, which could include artichokes, mushrooms and asparagus.
After the marketplace, walk to the town center and enter a quaint restaurant, a charming and simple establishment with an ‘Old World’ feel.
In the kitchen, don an apron and listen to your guide talk about the philosophy behind slow-food cooking, which is to create traditional food, using local ingredients, in a way that has the least impact on the environment.
Take a look at your recipe and ask any questions you may have before beginning. Cook alongside your guide, and chat with your fellow cooks in a real Italian kitchen.
When the food is ready, sit down to your freshly prepared 3-course lunch and marvel at what you have just made with only a few ingredients. Enjoy the company of your guide and fellow diners as the drinks and conversation flow.
After hours of cooking, eating and talking, your culinary experience draws to a close.
Take a leisurely walk through the narrow winding streets and reach a large, bustling marketplace. Enjoy the almost overwhelming sight: rows of crates stacked on top of one another, laden with fish, colorful produce and cheese, and people standing before the dozens of stalls trying to make the freshest selections.
Join their ranks with your guide leading the way. Be introduced to the fish sellers and learn how to pick out the right mussels and the most recently caught fish. At the produce stands, find the regional vegetables and perhaps bite into a succulent tomato. Pick up the seasonal ingredients required for your cooking class, which could include artichokes, mushrooms and asparagus.
After the marketplace, walk to the town center and enter a quaint restaurant, a charming and simple establishment with an ‘Old World’ feel.
In the kitchen, don an apron and listen to your guide talk about the philosophy behind slow-food cooking, which is to create traditional food, using local ingredients, in a way that has the least impact on the environment.
Take a look at your recipe and ask any questions you may have before beginning. Cook alongside your guide, and chat with your fellow cooks in a real Italian kitchen.
When the food is ready, sit down to your freshly prepared 3-course lunch and marvel at what you have just made with only a few ingredients. Enjoy the company of your guide and fellow diners as the drinks and conversation flow.
After hours of cooking, eating and talking, your culinary experience draws to a close.
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